Things Fall Apart- Part 1 Quotes

it was impossible to refuse Ezinma anything. After her father's rebuke she developed an even keener appetite for eggs. And she enjoyed above all the secrecy in which she now ate them.

After Okonkwo catches Ekwefi giving Ezinma eggs- discouraged because they are a gateway for children to steal- what do E & E do that shows their female independence? (Ch-9)

the Oracle of the Hills and Caves

Agbala- relates to Classical Greek Civilisation (Ch-3)

Proverb of the cunning tortoise who steals all the birds' food

Allegory for Okonkwo's greed for power (Ch-11)

Proverb of the cunning tortoise- symbolic of the colonisers- who tricks the birds- symbolic of the Igbo people- into taking him to the sky, where he steals all their food (then falls back to earth and breaks his shell)

Allegory for how Igbo people enable but also are the victims of colonisation (Ch-11)

in close communion with the departed fathers

Ani is in... (Ch-5)

it was really a woman's ceremony and the central figures were the bride and the mother

Contrast to the hyper-masculine funeral and male dominated trial (Ch-12)

Every nerve and every muscle stood out on their arms... stretching to breaking point

Description of "Okonkwo VS The Cat"- foreshadows his downfall brought on by his over-bearing masculinity (Ch-1)

She hit her left foot against an outcropped root, and terror seized her. It was an ill omen. She ran faster

Ekwefi is shown to be defiant and headstrong (Ch-11)

A strange and sudden weakness descended on Ekwefi

Ekwefi's vulnerability (Ch-11)

Okonkwo was provoked to justifiable anger

Example of free-indirect speech (Ch-4)

could lift a pot from the fire with her bare hands

Ezinma was always surprised that her mother... (Ch-5)

only ten years old but she was wiser than her years

Ezinma's intelligence (Ch-5)

A vague chill had descended on him and his head had seemed to swell, a cold shiver descended on his head and spread down his body

How are Nwoye and Okonkwo's reactions to the deaths of children (for Nwoye the infants in the earthenware pots and for Okonkwo his murder of Ikemefuna) similar? (Ch-7 & -8)

the ceremony was for men. There were many women, but they looked on from the fringe like outsiders

How are women excluded from the court proceedings? (Ch-10)

women never saw the inside of the [Egwugu's] hut. No woman ever did. They scrubbed and painted the outside walls under the supervision of men... No woman ever asked questions about the most powerful and the most secret cult in the clan.

How are women kept in the dark? (Ch-10)

so far forgot himself after a heavy meal that he challenged his chi

How do Okonkwo's enemies say his good fortune has gone to his head? (Ch-4)

Uzowulu bent down and touched the earth with his right hand as a sign of submission. 'Our father...

How do the court proceedings show the importance of humility and submission (which O seems to lack) in Igbo society? A parallel with western Christianity is also shown... (Ch-10)

The drums and the dancing began again and reached fever-heat. Darkness was around the corner

How does Achebe build foreboding and tension at Ezeudu's funeral? (Ch-13)

her voice cracking like the angry bark of thunder in the dry season. 'How dare you, woman, to go before the mighty Agbala... Bring me my daughter.'

How does Chielo become empowered by her double-status? (Ch-11)

'I shall carry you on my back. A baby on its mother's back does not know that the way is long.'

How does Chielo try to be caring despite havint to fulfi her duty? (Ch-11)

there was no humanity there

How does Ekwefi feel as Chielo chants through the night? What might this suggest about the faith in Igbo culture, and why people might go to Christianity? (Ch-11)

Of his three wives Ekwefi was the only one who would have the audacity to bang on his door.

How does Ekwefi stand out from Okonkwo's other wives? (Ch-9)

'Our Father'

How does Okonkwo address Nwakibie? (Ch-3)

he drank his palm wine from his first human head

How does Okonkwo drink palm wine? (Ch-2)

always uncomfortable sitting around for days waiting for a feast

How does Okonkwo feel during the Feast of the New Yam? (Ch-5)

I began to fend for myself at an age when most people still suck at their mothers' breasts

How does Okonkwo illustrate his strength and reliability? (Ch-3)

inwardly, affection was a sign of weakness

How does Okonkwo show his feelings? Why? (Ch-4)

Okonkwo bit his lips, with unusual coolness and restraint

How does Okonkwo unusually react to his wife's absence?

Unoka was an ill-fated man. He had a bad chi

How does Unoka link to Ikemefuna? (Ch-3)

Ikemefuna had begun to feel like a member of Okonkwo's family

How had Ikemefuna begun to feel? (Ch-4)

Mgbafo and her brothers were as still as statues into whose faces the artist has moulded defiance

How is Mgbafo shown as an independent, powerful female figure at the court proceedings? (Ch-10)

Her suitor and his relatives surveyed her young body with expert eyes as if to assure themselves that she was beautiful and ripe

How is Obierika's daughter Akueke groomed for marriage? What does it say about objectification in Igbo society? (Ch-8)

[a large crowd of men] set fire to his houses, demolished his red walls, killed his animals and destroyed his barn. It was the justice of the earth goddess, and they were merely her messengers

How is Okonkwo punished for his inadvertent murder? (Ch-13)

'I shall beat sense into you,' Okonkwo threatened. 'I have told you to let her alone. I know how to deal with them,'

How is Okonkwo reprimanded by the medicine man? (Ch-9)

He had felt very anxious but did not show it. When Ekwefi had followed the priestess, he had allowed what he regarded as a reasonable and manly distance.

How is Okonkwo shown to be caring, but always concerned with how people see him? (Ch-12)

took his matchet and went into the bush to collect the leaves and grasses and barks of trees that went into making the medicine

How is Okonkwo's matchet- an ongoing symbol of his masculinity- repurposed? (Ch-9)

Ekwefi's mind went back to the days when they were young... Even in those days he was not a man of many words. He just carried her into his bed and in the darkness began to feel around her waist for the loose end of her cloth.

How is it shown Okonkwo and Ekwefi have an intimate relationship? How is Okonkwo shown to be capable of romance and tenderness? (Ch-11)

the other boy was flat on his back. The crowd roared and clapped... Okonkwo sprang to his feet

How is it shown that Okonkwo (and the Igbo people) admire physical prowess? (Ch-6)

'we went to his house, beat him up and took our sister and her children away... Uzowulu is a beast. My sister lived with him for nine years. During those years no single day passed in the sky without his beating the woman.' ('when she was pregnant, he beat her until she miscarried.')

How is it shown that women's welfare is not disregarded? How is Uzowulu (and Okonkwo) shown to be not representative of the whole of Igbo society? (Ch-10)

Yam, the king of the crops, was a man's crop... Yam, the king of crops, was a very exacting king

How is the Yam described? (Ch-3/4)

the most dreaded of all was yet to come. He was always alone and was shaped like a coffin. A sickly odour hung in the air wherever he went, and flies went with him.

How is the coffin-shaped egwugwu described that builds foreshadowing at Ezeudu's funeral? (Ch-13)

a man was judged according to his worth

How was a man judged? (Ch-1)

love returned once more to her mother, and, with love, anxiety

Humanising Ekwefi, illustrating universal characteristics of parenting, showing her vulnerability (Ch-9)

Ikemefuna looked at them sternly and they held their peace

Ikemefuna's leadership (Ch-5)

full of the sap of life

Ikemefuna's vitality (Ch-7)

doomed lad who was sacrificed... by their neighbours to avoid bloodshed, ill-fated lad

Ikemfuna was the... (Ch-1)

The birth of her children, which should be a woman's crowning glory, became for Ekwefi mere physical agony devoid of promise

Insight into female suffering and Ekwefi's personal tragedy concerning her nine infant deaths (Ch-9)

powerful orator

Links with Classical Greek Civilisation (Ch-2)

'How can a man who has killed five men in battle fall to pieces because he has added a boy to their number? Okonkwo, you have become a woman indeed.'

O's personal pep talk in the wake of I's death (Ch-8)

so weak that his legs could hardly carry him... like a drunken giant walking with the limbs of a mosquito

O's physical ability after I's death (Ch-8)

He drank palm-wine from morning till night, and his eyes were red and fierce like the eyes of a rat when it was caught by the tail and dashed against the floor

O's state after I's death (Ch-8)

'You sound as if you question the authority and the decision of the Oracle, who said he should die.' 'I do not. Why should I? But the Oracle did not ask me to carry out its decision.'

Okonkwo questions Obierika for refusing to come with the men to kill Ikemefuna (Ch-8) He attempts to justify his own actions

'A little more... I said a little. Are you deaf?' Okonkwo roared at her

Okonkwo's anger while Ekwefi prepares the medicine for Ezinma demonstrates how he cares deeply for Ezinma (Ch-9)

'Ezinma is dying,'... Okonkwo sprang from his bed... and ran into Ekwefi's hut.

Okonkwo's reaction to Ekwefi telling him Ezinma is dying (Ch-9)

For the first time in three nights, Okonkwo slept. He woke up once in the middle of the night and his mind went back to the past three days without making him feel uneasy. He began to wonder why he had felt uneasy at all.

Okonkwo's swift recovery from Ikemfuna's death, and loss of humanity (Ch-9)

Okonkwo was inwardly pleased at his son's development and he knew it was due to Ikemefuna

Okonkwo's thoughts on his son's development (Ch-7)

When she had shaken hands, or rather held out her hand to be shaken

Proceedings of Obierika's new in-laws coming to meet Akueke (What does this say about women's role in these proceedings?) (Ch-8)

Ekwefi's bitterness did not flow outwards to others but inwards into her own soul; that she did not blame others for their good fortune but her own evil chi who denied her any

Psychological insight into Ekwefi's complex mindset (Ch-9)

(Okonkwo pleaded with her to come back in the morning because Ezinma was now asleep. But) Chielo ignored what he was trying to say and went on shouting that Agbala wanted to see his daughter.

Relationship between Okonkwo and Chielo showing her as authoritative, dutiful, and pious, even if it means hurting her "daughter"; also O seen as a more desperate, vulnerable, and submissive figure- shows he cares for Ezinma (Ch-11)

'...if he ever beats her again we shall cut off his genitals for him.'

Shows how natural justice and social justice coexist in Igbo society (Ch-10)

an ogbanje, one of those wicked child who, when they died, entered their mothers womb to be born again

Superstition about Ekwefi's infant deaths (Ch-9)

a boundless sheet of black cloud drifting towards Umuofia

The locusts were like... (Ch-7)

cried 'My father they have killed me.' as he ran towards him

What are Ikemefuna's last words? (Ch-7)

'It is like the story of white men who, they say, are white like this piece of chalk,' ... 'And these white men, they say, have no toes.'

What are Obierika's initial ideas of white men? (Ch-8)

Okonkwo's brusqueness in dealing with less successful men

What are people struck by about Okonkwo? (Ch-4)

harbingers

What are the first locusts? (Ch-7)

can ruin the whole clan

What can Ani do? (Ch-4)

Obierika's daughter's wedding

What celebration marks the end of Okonkwo's era of happiness? (Ch-12)

a clear overtone of tragedy

What could Okonkwo hear in the orator's voice? (It illustrates his ability for empathy) (Ch-2)

great anxiety for his incipient laziness, sad-faced youth

What did Okonkwo have for Okoye? (Ch-2)

The only course open to Okonkwo was to flee from the clan. It was a crime against the earth goddess to kill a clansman...The crime was of two kinds, male and female. Okonkwo had committed the female, because it had been inadvertent

What did Okonkwo have to do after his gun had exploded and a piece of iron had pierced the boy's heart? Achebe creates irony for this hyper-masculine character through his downfall caused by a female action (Ch-13)

about the heavy rains which were drowning the yams, about the next ancestral feast, and about the impending war with the village of Mbaino

What do Unoka and Okoye talk about? (Ch-1)

As the elders said if a child washed his hands he could eat with kings.

What do the elders say that Okonkwo did? (Ch-1)

Akueke's bride price was settled

What do the in-laws settle with Obierika? (Ch-8)

Why should a man suffer so grievously for an offence he had committed inadvertently? ... he found no answer... He remembered his wife's twin children, whom he had thrown away. What crime had they committed? The Earth had decreed that they were an offence on the land and must be destroyed.

What does Achebe use to show that people are already questioning Igbo culture, and that individuals are open to change? (Ch-13)

'my daughter'

What does Chielo call Ezinma? (Parallel between a Christian vicar and Igbo priestess) (Ch-6)

'Beware of exchanging words with Agbala. Does a man speak when a god speaks? Beware!'

What does Chielo warn Okonkwo that concerns his future transgressive behaviour? (Ch-11)

she swore within her that if she heard Ezinma cry she would rush into the cave to defend her against all the gods in the world. She would die with her.

What does Ekwefi swear she will do? How does this show she and Okonkwo are similar? (Ch-11)

'It is not bravery when a man fights with a woman.'

What does Evil Forest say that presents a more progressive ideal of masculinity? (Ch-10)

Because he had taken titles, Ezeudu was to be buried after dark with only a glowing brand to light the sacred ceremony.

What does Ezeudu receive that Okonkwo tragically misses out on? (Ch-13)

'That boy calls you father. Do not bear a hand in his death'

What does Ezeudu say to Okonkwo about Ikemefuna's death sentence? (Ch-7)

Ezinma unlike most children called her mother by her name

What does Ezinma unusually do? (Ch-5)

heard the voice of an infant crying, (became) like a solitary walker at night who passes an evil spirit

What does I's death remind Nwoye of? What did he become like? (Ch-7)

He sang it in his mind, and walked to its beat. If the song ended on his right, his mother was alive

What does Ikemefuna do before his death? (Ch-7)

the anklet of her husband's titles

What does Nwakibie's first wife wear? (Ch-3)

'I have done my best to make Nwoye grow into a man, but there is too much of his mother in him' 'Too much of his grandfather,' Obierika thought

What does O say is the reason for Nwoye's femininity? (Ch-8)

'She should have been a boy'

What does O think to himself when Ezinma is sat in his hut in front of him legs outstretched? (Ch-8)

'What you have done will not please the Earth. It is the kind of action for which the goddess wipes out whole families.'

What does Obierika say about Okonkwo's murder that foreshadows his tragic downfall? (Ch-8)

'Ndulue and Ozoemena had one mind'

What does Obierika say about the nature of Ndulue and Ozoemena's relationship, in the wake of them dying on the same day? (Ch-8)

The man who had contradicted him had no titles. That was why he had called him a woman. Okonkwo knew how to kill a man's spirit.

What does Okonkwo do to men he looks down (for their lack of titles)? (Ch-4)

whenever he was angry and could not get his words out quickly enough, he used his fists

What does Okonkwo do when he's angry? (Ch-1)

no patience with unsuccessful men

What does Okonkwo have? (Ch-1)

tall and huge

What does Okonkwo look like? (Ch-1)

inflexible will

What does Okonkwo put his survival down to? (Ch-3)

'Where are the young suckers that will grow when the old banana tree dies?'

What does Okonkwo say about his offspring? (Ch-8)

'The Earth cannot punish me for obeying her messenger,' Okonkwo said... It was the justice of the earth goddess, and they were merely her messengers

What does Okonkwo say about the Earth goddess' messengers, and how does this come back to bite him? (Ch-8 & -13)

'Sit like a woman!' , 'No, that is a boy's job'

What does Okonkwo say to enforce gender roles? (Ch-5)

as if he was going to pounce on somebody

What does Okonkwo seem like he's going to do? (Ch-1)

'I shall survive anything'

What does Okonkwo tell himself after that first harvest? (Ch-3)

It was like a man wondering in broad daylight why a dream had appeared so terrible to him at night. He stretched himself and scratched his thigh where a mosquito had bitten him as he slept.

What does Okonkwo think of Ikemefuna's death in hindsight? How does this show his indifference towards emotional turmoil which he only sees as a minor inconvenience? (Ch-9)

suppressed anger suddenly found an outlet

What does Okonkwo's restlessness provoke him to do? (Ch-5)

very thin and had a slight stoop

What does Unoka look like? (Ch-1)

'(A proud heart can survive a general failure because such a failure does not prick its pride.) It is more difficult and more bitter when a man fails alone'

What does Unoka say to Okonkwo after the harvest? (Foreshadows his eventual downfall) (Ch-3)

'...If your death was the death of nature, go in peace. But if a man caused it, do not allow him a moment's rest.'

What does the coffin-shaped egwugwu say at Ezeudu's funeral that foreshadows Okonkwo's fate? (Ch-13)

when a man is at peace with his gods and his ancestors his harvest will be good or bad according to the strength of his arm

What does the priestess say that illustrates the role of free will in the harvest and life? (Ch-3)

Nwoye would feign annoyance and grumble aloud about women and their troubles

What habit had Nwoye taken on, illustrating his masculinity? (Ch-7)

they no longer spent the evenings in mother's hut while she cooked but now sat with Okonkwo in his obi

What had I & N started doing? (Ch-7)

He was an elder brother to Nwoye, and from the very first seemed to have kindled a new fire in the younger boy

What had Ikemefuna become and done for Nwoye? (Ch-7)

was punished as was the custom

What happened to Okonkwo as a result of his transgression in the Week of Peace? (Ch-4)

Okonkwo's gun had exploded and a piece of iron had pierced the boy's heart

What happens at the funeral? (Ch-13)

Everybody laughed heartily except Okonkwo

What illustrates Okonkwo's deficiency of empathy (at times)? (Ch-3)

ultimate judge of morality and conduct

What is Ani in Igbo society? (Ch-5)

as much pleasure as the wrestling match

What is Ekwefi's unusual passion (considering she's a woman)? (Ch-5)

possessed by the fear of his father's contemptible life and shameful death

What is Okonkwo possessed by? (Ch-3)

'I thought he was a strong man in his youth.' 'He was indeed,' said Ofoeudu. Okonkwo shook his head doubtfully. 'He led Umuofia to war in those days,' said Obierika.

What is Okonkwo's response to hearing about Ndulue and Ozoemena's relationship? (Ch-8)

A man's life from birth to death was a series of transition rites which brought him nearer and nearer to his ancestors

What is a man's life in Igbo culture? (Ch-13)

No matter how prosperous a man was, if he was unable to rule his women and his children he was not really a man

What is important to be a man? (Ch-7)

'E-u-u, Ezeudu is dead.' A cold shiver ran down Okonkwo's back as he remembered the last time the old man had visited him. 'That boy calls you father,' he had said. 'Bear no hand in his death.'

What is the divine retribution for Okonkwo's transgression of killing Ikemefuna? (Ch-13)

from the centre of the delirious fury came a cry of agony and shouts of horror. It was as if a spell had been cast

What is the funeral's climax? How does Achebe suggest it was not a simple accident, but that mystical forces might be at work? (Ch-13)

a peaceful settlement

What is the offer of Ikemefuna and the young virgin? (Ch-2)

a man of action, a man of war

What kind of a man is Okonkwo? (Ch-2)

failure, coward

What kind of a man is Unoka? (Ch-1)

lay deep within himself- it was the fear of himself lest he should be found to resemble his father

What lies deep within Okonkwo? (Ch-2)

might have noticed that the second egwugwu had the springy walk of Okonkwo... that Okonkwo was not among the titled men and elders who sat behind the row of egwugwu. But if they thought these things they kept them within themselves.

What might Okonkwo's wives and other women have noticed about the second egwugwu? (Ch-10)

every man whose arm was strong... was expected to invite large numbers of guests

What must successful men do for the Feast of the New Yam? (Ch-5)

'Looking at a king's mouth... one would think he never sucked at his mother's breast'

What proverb is used to describe how Okonkwo 'had risen so suddenly from great poverty to be one of the lords of the clan'? (Ch-4)

Ekwefi and her daughter, Ezinma, sat on a mat on the floor. It was Ekwefi's turn to tell a story.

What shows E & E's model relationship as equals? (Ch-11)

the wife who had just been beaten murmured something about guns that never shot

What shows Ekwefi's boldness? (Ch-5)

she ran away from her husband and came to live with Okonkwo

What shows Ekwefi's independence? (Ch-5)

in one deft movement she lifted the pot from the fire and poured the boiling water on to the fowl

What shows Ekwefi's skill and ruthlessness? (Ch-5)

He knew the names of all the birds and could set clever traps for the bush rodents. And he knew which trees made the strongest bows

What shows Ikemefuna's compromise between feminine and masucline influences- even showing his superiority to Okonkwo? (Ch-4)

His anger thus satisfied

What shows Okonkwo's violent needs? (Ch-5)

not even for fear of a goddess

What shows just how serious Okonkwo's fear-complex is? (Ch-4)

A man stood there with a matchet in his hand... 'Go home and sleep... I shall wait here'

What shows that Okonkwo can be a protective, comforting force? How does this show he is caring and dutiful? (Ch-11)

gentleness, idleness

What things did Unoka love? (That Okonkwo therefore hates) (Ch-2)

tall and strongly built, authority in her bearing, ruler of the womenfolk

What traits does Nwakibie's first wife have? (Ch-3)

His love of talk had grown with age and sickness. It tried Okonkwo's patience beyond words

What tries Okonkwo's patience? (Ch-3)

It was a great funeral, such as befitted a noble warrior. As the evening drew near, the shouting and the firing of guns, the beating of drums and the brandishing and clanging of matchets increased.

What type of funeral was Ezeudu given? (Ch-13)

one of the fiercest since the founder of their town engaged a spirit of the wild

What was "Okonkwo VS The Cat" like? (Ch-1)

Chielo was not a woman that night

What was Chielo that night? (Ch-11)

something seemed to give way inside him like the snapping of a tightened bow

What was Nwoye's reaction to I's death? (Ch-7)

dominated by fear, the fear of failure and weakness. It was deeper and more intimate than the fear of evil and capricious gods

What was Okonkwo dominated by? (Ch-2)

Okonkwo was ruled by one passion- to hate everything that his father Unoka loved

What was Okonkwo ruled by? (Ch-2)

His fame rested on solid personal achievements, honour

What was Okonkwo's fame down to? (Ch-1)

the harvest was sad like a funeral, One man tied his cloth to a tree branch and hanged himself

What was Okonkwo's first harvest like? How did one man react? (Ch-3)

Okonkwo looked away, Dazed with fear Okonkwo drew his matchet and cut him down

What was Okonkwo's initial reaction to I being killed? What does he then do? (Ch-7)

They were merely cleansing the land which Okonkwo had polluted with the blood of a clansmam

What were the earth goddess' messengers doing? (Ch-13)

'I would sooner strangle him with my own hands"

What would Okonkwo rather do than 'have a son who cannot hold up his head in the gathering of the clan'? (Ch-4)

Each of the nine egwugwu represented a village of the clan. Their leader was called Evil Forest. Smoke poured out of his head.

Who are the egwugwu? (Ch-10)

If ever a man deserved success, that man was Okonkwo

Who deserved success? (Ch-4)

the dead man's sixteen-year-old son

Who was the "boy [who] lay in a pool of blood." ? (Ch-13)

effeminate men who had refused to come with them

Who were the executioners talking about? (Ch-7)

flute, kite, music, blessedness and peace

Words associated with Unoka (Ch-1)